The present invention relates to display machines and, in particular, to newspaper display machines of the type having one or more access doors.
Newspaper display machines include an interior compartment for housing newspapers, and a paper access door which enables newspapers to be removed from and supplied to the interior compartment. The paper access door, normally maintained in a locked condition, is unlocked in response to the depositing of proper coinage in a coin-actuated unlocking mechanism. The paper access door is often mounted upon and as part of a service access door which carries the coin-actuated unlocking mechanism. The service door can be opened to afford access to the coin-actuated unlocking mechanism for maintenance and coin collection.
It is necessary to enable authorized maintenance and paper delivery personnel to unlock the access door. In some cases, unlocking of the paper access door is achieved by the authorized personnel depositing the proper coinage. However, this requires that relatively large amounts of coins be distributed to, and carried by, the authorized personnel. In order to avoid this inconvenience, there are often provided a pair of key-operated locks on the machine which enable the paper access door and service access door to be opened independently of one another. The provision of two separately actuable locks for the access doors is costly and increases effort required to open both doors.
It is desirable that the service access door be removable from the machine housing for maintenance purposes. For that reason, the mounting of the service access door to the housing has been heretofore designed for simplified removal and insertion. However, often such a mounting is insufficient to withstand the forces imposed thereon when the spring-biased paper access door is repeatedly slammed shut. As a result, one or more of the corners of the service access door and/or paper access door can become bent.
Another common characteristic of newspaper display machines relates to the fact that the main housing is generally formed of a lower U-shaped section and an upper section of inverted U-shape. These housing sections are placed upon one another such that the downwardly depending legs of the upper section engage the upwardly extending legs of the lower section. The junctures between those legs is then welded to rigidly secure the two sections together. However, this results in the seams, or weld lines, being exposed along the sides of the housing, which seams are susceptible to rusting, especially since they are exposed to the elements. Furthermore, the seams are difficult to paint over, requiring that extra measures be taken to minimize their unsightly appearance, such as by matching the seams or pasting labels or the like over the seams. It is also difficult to align the legs of the housing sections during fabrication, thereby increasing the possibility for unevenness to occur.
A further characteristic of newspaper display machines is that the paper access door comprises a transparent window which enables a customer to view the interior of the housing. Often, a pocket formed of solid metal or a wire mesh is mounted along the inside of the window to house a folded-up display newspaper for being viewed through the window. However, the display paper may be sitting loosely behind the window and is not easily read, as the surface of the exposed page of the display paper may be rumpled or otherwise distorted (non-planar). In one case, a solid press plate is mounted at the top of a solid pocket-forming plate by means of a coil spring to bias the top of the display newspaper against the transparent window. However, this may not result in the bottom of the display newspaper being pressed in a similar manner. Also, the solid nature of these plates prevents a purchasor from viewing the interior compartment in a case where the display newspaper has not been provided or has been removed by a previous purchaser. Hence, the current purchasor cannot easily determine whether any unsold newspapers remain in the machine and may thus be dissuaded from making a purchase.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to minimize or obviate problems of the type discussed above.
Another object is to enable first and second doors of a display machine to be selectively opened by means of a single key-actuated cylinder.
A further object is to provide a display machine with a service access door which is easily removable and yet securely supported when mounted on the display machine housing.
Another object is to provide a novel display machine housing which eliminates the presence of multiple, exposed weld seams, and which is less subject to damage by impacts.
An additional object is to provide a display holder for holding a display paper behind a window of a paper access door while simultaneously pressing upper and lower portions of the paper against the window to make the displayed page easier to read.
A further object is to provide such a display holder which does not block a customer's view of the interior compartment.